SB Nation Cleveland - Indians Win Second Straight, Defeat Blue Jays 2-1 Behind Solid Pitchinghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48841/cleveland-fave.png2010-06-28T21:14:12-05:00http://cleveland.sbnation.com/rss/stream/13054602010-06-28T21:14:12-05:002010-06-28T21:14:12-05:00Recap: Westbrook, Indians Top Blue Jays With 2-1 Victory
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<p>Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/120/Jake_Westbrook">Jake Westbrook</a> pitched six-plus strong innings and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/31316/Jayson_Nix">Jayson Nix</a> brought in the go-ahead run with a suicide squeeze in the sixth, as Cleveland held off Toronto for a 2-1 win to open a four-game set at Progressive Field.</p>
<p>Westbrook (5-4) surrendered six hits and a run with one walk and four strikeouts to pick up the win. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/500/Austin_Kearns">Austin Kearns</a> provided an RBI single in the game's first frame for Cleveland, which won its second straight game on the heels of a seven-game skid.</p>
<p>A combination of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/915/Joe_Smith">Joe Smith</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/127/Rafael_Perez">Rafael Perez</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/32970/Chris_Perez">Chris Perez</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/4317/Kerry_Wood">Kerry Wood</a> allowed the one-run margin to hold up over the final three innings. Wood earned his seventh save in the process.</p>
<p>Toronto's <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/32499/Ricky_Romero">Ricky Romero</a> (6-4) received the hard-luck loss despite giving up only two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He walked three and fanned two.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/389/Jose_Bautista">Jose Bautista</a> had two hits and doubled in the lone run for Toronto, which has six losses in its last eight games.</p>
<p>Both sides traded runs in the game's opening frame. Back-to-back doubles from <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/444/Alex_Gonzalez">Alex Gonzalez</a> and Bautista chased home the only run for Toronto. Vernon Wells' single left runners at the corners with one out, but Westbrook bounced back to get the next two batters.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/34040/Carlos_Santana">Carlos Santana</a> doubled with two down in the home half and Kearns laced a single to right for a 1-1 game.</p>
<p>Things remained that way until the sixth when Romero hit <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/86/Travis_Hafner">Travis Hafner</a> with a pitch to start the inning, and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/87/Jhonny_Peralta">Jhonny Peralta</a> doubled to put two in scoring position with nobody out.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/31610/Matt_LaPorta">Matt LaPorta</a> failed to advance the runners with a groundout, but Nix laid down a perfect bunt to the left side of the infield. Romero tried in vain to flip the ball home to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/263/John_Buck">John Buck</a> as Hafner slid in safely with the go-ahead run.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/861/Lyle_Overbay">Lyle Overbay</a> started the Toronto seventh with a base hit and Smith came on for Westbrook. He got two quick outs and Rafael Perez recorded the third to strand Overbay on the basepaths.</p>
<p>Wells hit into a double play to end the eighth against Chris Perez and Wood worked around a two-out single in the ninth, fanning Buck to end the game with pinch-runner <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/players/19826/Nick_Green">Nick Green</a> at second.</p>
<p>Romero hadn't allowed an earned run in either of his two previous starts and has surrendered two runs or fewer in five of his last six starts overall, but is just 2-2 in that time...The Blue Jays dropped two of three in Philadelphia over the weekend in a home series moved to the visiting park because of the G20 Summit in Toronto...The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../../mlb/teams/CLE">Indians</a> have won just three times in their last 14 games overall...Toronto swept a three-game set from the Indians back in early May and has won six of its last eight in Cleveland despite Monday's setback...Wells and Overbay each had two hits for the Jays...Nix and LaPorta collected two hits apiece for the Tribe.</p>
https://cleveland.sbnation.com/2010/6/28/1542360/recap-westbrook-indians-top-blueChris Pokorny2010-06-28T12:16:50-05:002010-06-28T12:16:50-05:00Preview: Indians Look For Second Straight Win As Blue Jays Roll Into Town
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<p>(<a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/events/53815/preview/107788">Sports Network</a>) - <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/32499/Ricky_Romero">Ricky Romero</a> will try to get the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/teams/TOR">Toronto Blue Jays</a> back on track this evening when they open a four-game set with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/teams/CLE">Cleveland Indians</a> at Progressive Field.</p>
<p>The Jays, who with 40 wins are one of the biggest surprises in the league, had a difficult time in Philadelphia over the weekend, dropping two of three including an 11-2 rout in Sunday's finale. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/864/Vernon_Wells">Vernon Wells</a> went 2-for-3 and upped his home run total to 19 with a two-run shot for Toronto, which committed four errors in its fifth loss in seven games.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/34186/Brett_Cecil">Brett Cecil</a> (7-5) surrendered seven runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings to get the loss.</p>
<p>"We didn't give [Cecil] any support in terms of defense," <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/TOR">Blue Jays</a> manager Cito Gaston said. "We certainly lost as a team today."</p>
<p>Hoping for a little more run support tonight will be Romero, who hasn't allowed a run in either of his last two starts. Romero, though, didn't get a win on Wednesday against St. Louis despite scattering eight hits in eight scoreless innings of his team's 1-0 loss.</p>
<p>"It was a tough one, a pitchers' duel. I knew it was going to be a tough one. It was just a good game," said the hard-luck Romero, who is 6-3 on the season with a 2.85 eared run average.</p>
<p>Romero, 2-0 in two starts versus the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/CLE">Indians</a>, has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts overall, but is just 2-1 in that time.</p>
<p>Cleveland, meanwhile, will counter with veteran right-hander <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/120/Jake_Westbrook">Jake Westbrook</a>, who is 4-4 with a 4.90 ERA. Westbrook did not get a decision in his last start on Wednesday in Philadelphia, as he allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings of his team's 7-6 loss.</p>
<p>Westbrook has faced the Blue Jays nine times (sevens tarts) and is 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA.</p>
<p>Cleveland snapped a seven-game losing streak on Sunday, as <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/113/Shin_Soo_Choo">Shin-Soo Choo</a> hit two home runs and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/31352/Mitch_Talbot">Mitch Talbot</a> was sharp through seven innings, helping the Indians to a 5-3 win over Cincinnati to conclude their three-game interleague set.</p>
<p>Talbot (8-6) surrendered just a lone run on three hits while striking out five and walking three for the Tribe, who won for just a second time in their last 13 games. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="../../mlb/players/4317/Kerry_Wood">Kerry Wood</a> struck out the side in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.</p>
<p>Toronto swept a three-game set from the Indians back in early May and have won six of its last seven in Cleveland.</p>
https://cleveland.sbnation.com/2010/6/28/2317120/preview-indians-look-for-second-straight-win-as-blue-jays-roll-intoEvan Dunlap